title: Are serial measurements of CA19-9 useful in predicting response to chemotherapy in patients with inoperable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas?
abstract: Thirty-nine patients with inoperable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were studied (27 male, 12 female; median age 60 years, range 39-75 years). All patients received chemotherapy with continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil with intravenous bolus epirubicin followed by cisplatin, repeated every 21 days for a total of six cycles and were evaluable for response. Serum CA19-9 concentrations were obtained at baseline and before each cycle. A rise or fall in the tumour marker was defined as a greater than 15% increase or decrease in the marker on two consecutive occasions 3 weeks apart. A plateau in the tumour marker was defined as a less than 15% decrease or increase on two occasions. Changes in marker expression were compared with serial computerized tomography scanning before treatment and after the third and sixth cycle of chemotherapy. Thirty-five of 39 patients had an elevated CA19-9 (87.9%). Thirteen (36.2%) exhibited a decrease, seven (19.4%) a plateau and 16 (44.4%) patients had a progressive rise in serum CA19-9. The sensitivity of CA19-9 was 67% for predicting a partial response and 86% for progressive disease. The median survival for the 13 patients exhibiting a reduction was 333 days, for the seven patients exhibiting a plateau 253 days and for those who had a progressive rise 185 days. The difference in median survival between the group of patients with > 15% decrease and those with > 15% increase of CA19-9 was significant (P = 0.001). In the cohort of patients who exhibited a reduction in CA19-9, no tumour progression was seen, and the reduction occurred during the first three cycles of treatment. Thus, interval scanning may be avoided in this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, St George's Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gogas
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Lofts
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daryanani
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Mansi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen